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Bo knows the President's sneakers and socks

He has torn through magazines and stray socks, even sunk his teeth into the president's gym shoes.

The baseball card of Bo Obama, now 11 months old, lists tomatoes and meeting foreign “dognitaries” as some of his favourite things. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)

By Darelene SupervilleAssociated Press

Mon., Sept. 7, 2009

WASHINGTON–He has torn through magazines and stray socks, even sunk his teeth into the president's gym shoes.

Charm school taught him to sit, heel and shake a paw on command.

He's just back from his first summer vacation on breezy Martha's Vineyard.

That's just a scoop of the poop on Bo's first few months as First Dog of the United States.

Now, the White House is distributing a Bo baseball card (whitehouse.gov/blog/Bo-The-Portrait-the-Baseball-Card/) that reveals, among other things, he can't swim and his goal is to become friends with foreign dognitaries. Anyone who writes to the dog is sent one in return. Independent of the White House, there also are Bo stuffed animal toys, a story book and jigsaw puzzle.

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And in the midst of his celebrity, 11-month-old Bo has playtime with First Daughters Malia and Sasha, meals, puppy mischief – and lots of just lying around.

Obama says walks with the family's Portuguese water dog – he came to the First Family via Sen. Ted Kennedy, who died two weeks ago – are a highlight of his pressure-packed days. It's perhaps a sign of just how high-stress they are that the president is sentimental about the less-pleasant dog duties.

"I'm the guy with the night shift," he told one television interviewer. "We go out and we're walking and I'm picking up poop and in the background is the beautifully lit White House. It's quite a moment.''

White House aides report that the press office phones yield far more calls asking dog questions than about any other, weightier topic of the new presidency. In just these nearly five months, though, Bo has become one of the most popular dogs around.

He won a Teen Choice Award for celebrity pet, besting Adam Sandler's bulldog Matzo Ball and Ashton Kutcher's Chihuahua Vida Blue, among other candidates. Obama introduced him as the "star of the family" at a luau on the South Lawn.

"just met the presidents dog!! so cute," tennis star Andy Roddick gushed on his Twitter page after meeting Bo while in Washington to play in a tournament.

Two weeks ago, Bo accompanied the family on Air Force One to Martha's Vineyard, Mass., for summer vacation, creating a minor sensation when he wandered into the press cabin at the rear of the aircraft on each leg of the round trip.

No dog is perfect, however.

He has torn up at least one magazine and gone after the president's gym shoes, the First Lady told an interviewer. He's also been found with a sock, which he dropped and scampered away from with a "you-caught-me" look on his furry face.

Lessons on better behaviour have been taught to Bo at training school in the city's Georgetown area.

Bo is just the latest in a long line of presidential pets to have captivated the public.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Scottish terrier, Fala, was widely recognizable. The popularity of Gerald Ford's golden retriever, Liberty, soared after she gave birth to eight puppies. Millie, the springer spaniel who belonged to George H.W. Bush, is the only "first pet" to ever write a book (as "dictated" to Barbara Bush). George W. Bush's Scottish terrier, Barney, had his own White House Web page, where the dog's-eye-view videos he shot from a camera mounted on his collar were posted.

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